The Extraordinary Life of Henri Langie with Eric and Tom Langie
Battles of the First World War Podcast
Mike Cunha
4.8 • 838 Ratings
🗓️ 29 March 2026
⏱️ 75 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Independent historians Eric and Tom Langie, a father and son duo, come on the podcast to discuss the extraordinary life of their ancestor Henri Langie and the book they have written about him, "Henri Langie: From War Volunteer in WW I to Honorary Major in WW II."
Henri went from a schoolteacher to a stretcherbearer and officer in WW1, to professiona soldier and later a battalion commander and POW during WW2, to becoming a beloved "Kleine Bompa" in his peaceful years of retirement.
Henri lived a truly extraordinary life, and this is a story you will enjoy.
Where to buy (Europe): https://www.bravenewbooks.nl/site/?r=userwebsite/bookdetails&id=22023848
Where to buy the book (UK): https://amzn.eu/d/04alvcqy
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The The |
| 0:23.6 | The Hey, folks, welcome to the Battles of the First World War podcast. |
| 0:53.8 | Joining us on the podcast this afternoon are Eric and Tom Longi, father and son, |
| 1:00.0 | and authors of Henri Longi from War Volunteer in World War I to Honorary Major in World War II. |
| 1:08.4 | So a little bit about Eric and Tom. |
| 1:14.4 | So Eric is the grandson of Henri Lange and knew him until he was 17 years of age. During his final years, Henri lived in Eric's childhood |
| 1:21.9 | home in the military town, Leopoldsburg, where Eric's father was active in the army at the time as a major medic. |
| 1:30.0 | During his youth, Eric grew up with the stories told by his father and grandfather. |
| 1:35.4 | And Eric studied musicology and archaeology at the University of Louisville and produced lots of |
| 1:41.6 | concerts and music recordings. Very cool. |
| 1:45.5 | And Tom, Tom is the great-grandson of Henri Longi. |
| 1:50.3 | He has had a keen interest in World War I and World War II since a young age. |
| 1:55.9 | It was probably passed down from father to son and the fact that both his grandfathers were in the military |
| 2:01.4 | and also playing a lot of shooter games online and watching war movies has probably helped |
| 2:06.8 | expand the interest. Yeah, same, same here. In his daily occupation, Tom is an entrepreneur |
| 2:13.1 | who's passionate about tech and innovation. And having worked for more than eight years at Tesla, |
| 2:18.3 | he now runs his own software company in the e-mobility industry. |
| 2:22.5 | Also very cool. |
| 2:23.4 | Wow. |
| 2:24.0 | All right. |
| 2:25.8 | Okay. |
| 2:26.6 | So to start off, |
... |
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